From Marc Faber To John Schnatter, Top Bosses Who Were Sacked For Being Racially Offensive

Recently, several top executives in global companies have had to face the music for being racially offensive.

Here are some who had to pay for their words or actions with their jobs.

(Text: Rashmi Menon)

The US pizza tycoon and founder of Papa John’s Pizza, was forced to step down from the company he founded, after he hurled racially offensive slurs and spoke insensitively about violence against minorities while on a conference call with a media agency. While he later apologised for his actions, investors weren’t happy with the bad publicity and asked him to step down. However, just days after he left, Schnatter told a news publication that he had made a “mistake” by stepping down and criticised the board for not doing “proper due diligence”.

(Image: Reuters)

A communication officer is usually adept at handling crisis and negative publicity instead of becoming the cause for it. Netflix’s chief communications officer, however, found himself in such a predicament. Friendland, who joined the company in 2011, was pulled up and fired for using racially offensive language during a meeting with colleagues. In an apology before leaving, Friedland said, “Leaders have to be beyond reproach in the example we set, and unfortunately, I fell short of that standard when I was insensitive in speaking to my team about words that offend in comedy.”

(Image: AP)

At the height of Paris Couture Week, Russian designer Ulyana Sergeenko and entrepreneur Miroslava Duma found themselves in a PR crisis. Sergeenko came under fire for sending a bouquet of flowers to Duma with the handwritten note, “To my n****s in Paris.” Duma shared the note on Instagram adding a heart emoji to show affection for the designer. To make matters worse, that same evening, a 2012 video of Duma started doing the rounds, in which she is seen making homophobic comments about a blogger and transgender model. Duma has since been removed from her position as a board member at The Tot, a baby fashion label.

In the October issue of his newsletter last year, the Swiss investor, who resides in Thailand, was widely criticised for writing, “Thank God white people populated America, and not blacks. Otherwise, the US would look like Zimbabwe…” The comment cost him a seat on the board of three companies. Three other companies too booted him out, while international TV channels, who would give him air time for his expert opinion, distanced themselves.

The chief people officer of the global ride-hailing app was asked to leave over how she dealt with racial discrimination complaints within the company. Hornsey stepped down after Reuters contacted Uber for a comment on why no investigation had been carried out regarding accusations against Hornsey. Ironically, Hornsey was the company’s spokesperson on diversity and discrimination. The complainants also stated that Hornsey made derogatory comments and racially tinted language against Bernard Coleman III, the global head of diversity and inclusion and former chief brand officer, Bozoma Saint John.